


Finding Happy

by TobiBooneTheSmallSpoone



Series: For the Love of Klave [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse? What Apocalypse?, Dave Lives AU, Fix It, HERE WE GO AGAIN!, Hey there sunshine, M/M, Making my Own Cannon, kiss it all better, put a bandaid on it, time travel is weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:42:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TobiBooneTheSmallSpoone/pseuds/TobiBooneTheSmallSpoone
Summary: After rescuing Dave from 1968, Klaus promises to get sober which leads to a few interesting discoveries about himself and some about Vanya.





	1. In Which some Spooky Happenings Happen

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, part 2 of 'For the Love of Klave'! If you didn't know this was Part 2, Part 1: It's Just a Jump to the Left, is listed in the series and is absolutely mandatory as a prologue of sorts for this one. Okay so hope you enjoy!

                                                               

 

It was a lovely darkness, not the best he’d ever experienced but pretty good as far as complete, quiet darknesses go. Nine out of ten in Klaus’s book, really, and he was just getting comfortable in his floaty little darkness when his name was called rather rudely.

“Klaus! Hey!”

“C’mon, Ben, I’m sleeping . . . “ Klaus mumbled, intent on rolling over and rediscovering that weightless darkness.

Until he realized that the weightlessness remained despite him being awake with just his eyes closed. Klaus slowly opened his eyes and suddenly things were very weird, for starters, Ben was holding his shoulders tightly in both hands and shaking him.

Klaus stepped back, “Wait . . . What happened? Where are we?”

He looked around, they were in the hallway of the house but it had changed, the first thing he noted was the chandelier smashed on the ground. Klaus blinked and turned to Ben, his brother looked as upset as Klaus was starting to feel then Ben gestured to the chandelier,

“Do you remember anything?”

“I . . . “ Klaus screwed his face up tight and licked his lips, “Well . . . I remember Vanya . . . I remember you and then-” He stopped and looked at Ben, touching his brother’s shoulder and giving it a light push, “Oh my gourd, am I . . . am I . . . _dead_?”

Ben grimaced, “I jumped in and tried to shield you and Vanya from the worst of it but then everything went blurry and here we are.”

Klaus shook his head, frantically wringing his hands, he felt so strange, numb and tingly but at the same time he felt . . . _nothing_ ,

“Is this how you feel all the time?”

“I think we have bigger problems! Focus, Klaus!” Ben snapped, “The family were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital! We need to move!”

“R-Right! So how do we travel, do we just run there or can we, I dunno, teleport?” Klaus asked as he hurried to follow Ben.

“Just think about the hospital, alright? We’ll get there.” Ben grabbed Klaus’s arm.

Klaus blinked and suddenly, they were there, “Holy shit! Now I know why Five just blips around all the time!”

“Klaus, stay on task!” Ben snapped, dragging Klaus over to the front desk, “We need to find out where you’re being kept!”

“My body would be in the morgue wouldn’t it?” Klaus asked then he bit his lip, “Oh, Dave . . . What about-”

“I don’t think you’re dead, dude, the paramedics didn’t have to revive you or Vanya, I think you just got knocked out.” Ben muttered as he looked over the receptionist’s shoulder at the registry.

“I’ve been knocked out several times and this has _never_ happened before.” Klaus said gesturing to himself while trying to find a way to help but his hands kept phasing through things.

“You also haven’t been sober in how long? Here! C’mon!” Ben grabbed Klaus again and they rushed to the stairs.

“Why are we not just-”

“Never been to that floor, sometimes when you try to just go to places you’ve never been, you can end up in really weird places like inside walls or hovering outside a window.” Ben muttered as they took the stairs two or three at a time, “Reasons why I just follow you around most of the time.”

“Oh. This is so surreal . . . “

“You’re telling me? I literally stopped you from being crushed by a light fixture when not two days ago I was completely ethereal!” Ben shouted over his shoulder, “Whatever Vanya is capable of, I highly suggest we tell someone as soon as possible, going it alone seems like a really bad idea.”

“Yeah, I can see that now,” Klaus swallowed and stepped through the closed door with a big ‘Floor 3’ sign on it, “I’ll tell them about what I can do too . . . well . . . if I can even communicate with them.”

Ben grimaced and put his hand on Klaus’s shoulder, “We’ll find a way.”

“Don’t suppose they’d be willing to try a Ouija Board?”

They headed down the hall until they saw Klaus and Vanya’s names under a room number. Klaus swallowed and stepped into the room with Ben close behind, their brothers and sister were standing around talking in hushed voices, Luther reached over and shut the door just as the two ghost boys shuffled to stand by the wall,

“So . . . we’re agreed then?”

“No, we are _not_ agreed!” Allison hissed, looking at Diego and Five, “We can’t just do that to Vanya without knowing everything that happened!”

“Allison, Mom found Vanya and Klaus unconscious under the fucking chandelier, what more evidence do you need that something really bad happened?” Five asked, crossing his arms.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Diego pointed out, “It might have been an accident!”

“That’s exactly what it was!” Klaus said, stepping up to the group, “Look, I made a mistake, I tried to do something alone and it backfired, you-”

“According to Dad’s notes, this has happened before,” Luther said, “She’s dangerous if left unchecked.”

“That was before, this is now, we can help her!” Allison shook her head.

“It’s true!” Klaus looked around, “She’s just scared and this is all so new, I-”

“And what if she loses control again and hurts someone else? Causes a building to collapse? What then? Do we just say ‘sorry’ and hope no one takes her away?” Luther threw his hands out emphatically, “We don’t know what we’re dealing with and for all we _do_ know, she could wake up and start losing control immediately!”

“What do you suggest then?” Diego asked, stepping up to Luther.

Luther took a slow breath, “There’s . . . a chamber under the house that Dad apparently built for her. We can keep her there safely until we know what to do.”

“You’re gonna lock _our_ _sister_ in a room alone?” Klaus shouted, his eyes wide as memories of the mausoleum flashed through his mind, “You can’t do that!”

“She’s our sister, not an animal or a criminal!” Allison looked around at them all, “We can’t just put her away like that!”

“We don’t have many options!” Luther snapped.

“No!” Klaus ran up to Luther, swinging at his big, stupid chest only for his fists to just phase through Luther, “No! You can’t do that to her! She’s scared and she didn’t mean to!”

“We can try-” Diego started.

“Do you want what happened to Klaus to happen to other people?” Luther pointed at a curtain concealing the other bed, “We don’t even know if he’s going to ever wake up, Diego!”

Klaus stopped and turned around, not listening anymore, he looked at Vanya, her face relaxed and she looked to just be sleeping but then he turned to the curtain and slowly stepped through it. Dave was sitting hunched over in a chair and Klaus ran up to him,

“Dave! Dave, I’m here, I’m alright, really! I- . . . “ He swallowed, “You can’t hear me . . . “

“Uh, Klaus?” Ben was standing at the foot of the bed, staring at the occupant, “I . . . don’t think I took the brunt of the damage.”

Klaus blinked and slowly looked at his body, “Oh shit . . . “

Body-Klaus was in a bad way, his head was wrapped up and he was in an upper body cast and neck brace and lots of bruises on his face along with the black eye that Leonard had gifted him. Klaus jumped when Ben dropped a hand on his ghost-shoulder,

“Sorry, bro, I thought I got it.”

“Well, you tried, I think I’d be all-the-way dead otherwise.” Klaus said softly, he turned to Dave who was staring at his feet, “I wish I could talk to him and let him know I’m okay.”

“Maybe you can, who knows what you’re capable of like this.” Ben shifted, “I’m gonna keep an eye on what the others are doing.”

“Okay.” Klaus moved to sit on the floor in front of Dave who was still covering his face with his hands.

Ben nodded and disappeared through the curtain, Klaus sighed and scooted closer, trying to put his cheek on Dave’s knee only for it to go through a bit but he didn’t bother to adjust,

“Hey,” Klaus said softly, “I’m sorry about this, I should have said something, I thought I could help her.”

Dave sighed and sat back, putting his hands on the armrests of the chair, his eyes puffy and red, “Damn it, Klaus . . .”

“You swore,” Klaus sat up a bit, “you never swear.”

“I wish you wouldn’t do such stupid things alone all the time,” Dave murmured, “And here we are again.”

“I know,” Klaus murmured, fidgeting with one of the necklaces he was wearing, “But hey, at least this hospital visit isn’t because I did a dumb thing with drugs, right?”

The curtain parted and Diego popped his head in, “Hey, Luther wants to hear what you saw at Vanya’s practice again.”

Dave sighed heavily, looking at Body-Klaus, “I don’t know how much more I can tell him, but alright.”

“I’ll sit with Klaus.” Diego said, putting a hand on the back of Dave’s chair.

“Thank you.” Dave got up and stepped out.

Klaus watched Diego sit down after scooting the chair close, his brother stared intently at the inert Body-Klaus, rubbed his face and took a deep breath,

“You’re really something else, you know that?”

“Yeah, I do.” Klaus moved to sit on the bed, looking at his own body, this was a very weird situation.

“I cannot fucking believe you’d be so stupid to go it alone, again,” Diego muttered, looking around, lips pursed, “You stupid moron . . . now look at you.”

Klaus grimaced, “Hey now, there’s no call for-”

“I can’t take much more of this losing-people bullshit, Klaus.” Diego said in a harsh whisper, “First Mom for a bit there, then Eudora-” He cut off and took a shaky breath, “I don’t blame you for that one, okay? She should have- She could have just- . . . She thought she could handle it and was doing the right thing and she rescued you so . . . “

Klaus blinked, “Who’s Eudora? Wait, that’s your lady cop pal, isn’t- . . . oh . . . “

“Now Luther’s talking about locking Vanya up and . . . “ Diego shook his head, ‘Look, it was a bitch move for her to write that stupid book but regardless I don’t think we should just put her in a box in the basement and forget about her.”

Klaus swallowed, “Diego, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”

“And let me tell you something,” Diego leaned forward on the bed, pointing in Body-Klaus’s face, “You stupid, junkie prick, you die on me now and I’m going to come over there and beat your ghost-ass until the end of time, do you understand me? I didn’t waste all my time getting you clean and keeping tabs on you and making sure your ass didn’t end up dead in a ditch for you to pull a stupid trick like this and die when I wasn’t around to smack you upside the head and stop you. You understand me? So you better knock off this unconscious, coma bullshit and wake up or I’m coming over there and making you.”

Klaus blinked, “Well I didn’t know you cared.”

Diego stared at Body-Klaus as if he actually expected his eyes to pop open then Diego sat back, licking his lips and looking at the ceiling,

“I couldn’t save her, Klaus, I couldn’t save her and now I gotta sit around and be helpless again . . . I fucking _hate_ this so much,“ He swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut, “I . . . Klaus, I loved her and I didn’t know how to tell her and now I can’t. So I’m gonna only say this once and if you ever tell anyone, I’ll kill you myself,” Diego kept his eyes shut and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the bed, “I love you, you dumbass, and I’d be real pissed if you died.”

Klaus swallowed and moved to hover above Diego, “I love you too, you asshole.”

Diego cleared his throat and stood up suddenly and made a show of composing himself before stepping back out the curtain with Klaus just behind him,

“So, now what?”

Dave looked around at the siblings then grimaced, “I don’t think this is any of my business so I’ll just, uh, I’ll just go back to Klaus.”

“Alright.” Luther leaned back on his heels.

Klaus stood next to Ben and nudged him, “What’d I miss.”

“Just Dave telling them what you guys saw, a few weird remarks from Five before he blipped away, and Allison calling Luther a jerk.”

“Usual then.” Klaus sighed, he slowly made his way to Vanya’s bed, “What’re they saying to do with her?”

“Luther is adamant about putting her in that room in the basement.” Ben said softly.

Klaus bit his lip and put his hand on Vanya’s cheek, “We have to stop them, I don’t know how yet but we have to try, they can’t just shut her away all alone like that.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Ben asked, standing on Vanya’s other side.

“I have some ideas, gonna try and Swayze the shit out of my boyfriend and see if I can get a reaction, work from there.” Klaus squatted down and peered at Vanya’s sleeping face, “Hey, it’s gonna be okay, Van, I promise that I’m gonna do everything I can to help you out. Hang in there.”

He stood up, brushed himself off and turned to Ben,

“Okey doke, let’s spook back to the house and try and work this shit out.”

“Fine, but if you’re gonna try ghost-sex with your boyfriend, warn me, alright? I’m not into walking in on my brother playing hide the pickle.” Ben grumbled.

“I hadn’t even thought of that.” Klaus teased then looked back as the siblings dispersed, each looking angry while Dave still sat next to Body-Klaus, “This is not gonna be an easy ride.”

“Naw, but when have we ever done things the easy way?” Ben smirked and patted Klaus’s shoulder, “C’mon, we got work to do.”

“Right.”


	2. In Which Klaus Swayzes the Shit out of His Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus starts to try out his newfound ghosty abilities, Dave learns some more background and Swayze-ing ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading so far!! <3

Klaus paced in his room while Ben watched him from the bed, “So, are we going to do anything or . . . ?”

“Okay so here’s what I think,” Klaus walked over to Ben and sat down, “The best way we can help Vanya and me is if we keep an eye on our dear siblings during the day and at night I’ll work on getting back I into my body and figuring out what I can do.”

“Sounds like as good a plan as any, how do you wanna divvy up the Hargreeves?” Ben leaned back.

“Well, Five is almost impossible to keep tabs on so how about I stay at the hospital and you stay here at the house? I can work on maybe getting back into my body and watch Vanya in case she wakes up and you-”

“Can scout out that basement room and keep track of Luther, Pogo and Mom, just in case something new comes to light.” Ben nodded, “And if we find something out or there’s trouble?”

“Just pop over to where the other is and we’ll both try and tackle it. I’m not sure how much good we’d be if a fight broke out but we have to try.” Klaus murmured.

“Okay, then so unless something bad happens, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Right.”

They stared at each other then Klaus lurched forward and hugged Ben tightly, Ben hugged him back just as hard and breathed in,

“It feels so good to touch someone.” Ben whispered.

“I’ve wanted to hug you since your ghosty ass popped up in front of me.” Klaus said sitting back, “I’ve missed you a lot, like sure you’re around and all but touching you-”

“Whole different story, trust me, I know.” Ben nodded.

“Okay, I’m off.” Klaus stood and thought of his hospital room.

* * *

Klaus opened his eyes and he was there, at the foot of Vanya’s bed, she was still sleeping and he smiled fondly,

“Hey there, Vanya, doing okay? Don’t  worry, sis, we’re working on it.”

He stepped through the curtain and sighed, his body was still in rough shape and Dave was still sitting there staring at Body-Klaus,

“Cupcake, you should really take a break, I’m not going anywhere.” Klaus murmured, settling onto the foot of the bed cross-legged, “You look exhausted.”

Dave swallowed and shifted his weight, sighing softly, “My butt’s getting numb, sunshine, maybe I should walk around for a bit, huh?”

“Yeah, I got a whole lot of numb stuff going on, lemme tell ya.” Klaus nodded sympathetically, “My whole body is a weird mess of the tinglies.”

The curtain moved aside and Allison stepped in, “Hey.”

“Oh, hi, I didn’t know anyone was still here.” Dave said.

Klaus looked around, “Hey, Allison, I’m here too.”

Allison shook her head, “I wasn’t, I just came back to see if you’d moved.”

Dave grimaced guiltily and shook his head, “I . . . I can’t seem to find it in me to leave him for too long.”

“I get the feeling that saying Klaus means a lot to you would be a horrible understatement.” Allison crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head.

Dave looked at her and blinked, “He’s all I have.”

“Give yourself some credit, sugar bottom, you got a lot more than just me worth having.” Klaus mumbled, fidgeting.

“Klaus just . . . fits with me, he makes sense and when I’m with him, the world doesn't seem like such a scary place.”Dave murmured, turning to gaze at Body-Klaus, “He’s so chaotic and wild and exciting but at the same time, I feel like he also is the peace in my life.”

Allison’s eyebrows rose, “Well, I’ll give you one thing, I don’t think anyone has ever said that about Klaus in his life.”

“He always told me that he’s not used to being with someone and actually wanting them there in the morning.” Dave sighed.

Klaus blushed, “Dave, stop telling my sister weird stuff about me!”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to unload on you it’s just . . . seeing him like this, this feeling,” Dave swallowed, “Now I know how scared he was when he was waiting for me to wake up.”

Allison shook her head, “Out of all of us, its amazing that Klaus is the one that has a healthy, functional relationship.”

Dave chuckled, “He is unpredictable.”

“Have you eaten yet?” Allison asked suddenly.

Klaus looked up quickly, “Shit, yeah, have you eaten at all, Dave?”

Dave grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “No, I sort of just forgot what with all that went on.”

“How about we go down to the cafeteria and get some lunch? You won’t be very far away from him for long and if anything happens, we’ll be the first to know.”

Dave smiled, “Yes, thank you.”

He got up and stopped, looking at Body-Klaus and sighing, he moved closer and gently touched Body-Klaus’s hand before turning and walking out.

Klaus waited a moment then looked around, 

“Okay, at least Dave is being taken care of.” He moved to peer into his body’s closed eyes, “Wonder if I can get back in there . . . “

He spent an hour trying to move objects or affect them and finally succeeded in pushing a cup across the table when Dave came back.

“Oh hey, Davey-baby, have a good lunch?” 

Dave sighed and sat down in his chair while Allison picked up her coat,

"Well, thank you for lunch, Allison, I enjoyed having someone conscious to talk to for a spell."

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to the house with me?”

Dave shifted, “I . . . I want to stay with him.”

“No, Dave, go to the house, take a shower and try and get some sleep.” Klaus murmured, moving to try and hug Dave but he phased through him a bit, “I’ll be okay, you need to-”

“You really need to take care of yourself too, Dave.” Allison said gently, putting her hand on Dave’s shoulder, “Klaus would understand.”

“I do! I do, Dave, I understand, please,” Klaus squatted in front of Dave, looking up into his sad, tired face, “Please, go home and get your jammies on and Mom will make you some tea. I’m not going anywhere.”

Dave bit his lip and looked at Body-Klaus, “You’ll tell me if something changes?”

“You’ll be the first to know. C’mon, I’ll drive us home.” Allison patted Dave’s back and headed for the door.

Dave slowly got up and moved to stand over Body-Klaus, he ran his fingers gently over Body-Klaus’s jaw,

“I’m, um, I’m going to go to the house and get some sleep. I’ll be back first thing in the morning, I promise.” He bent over and as carefully as he could, kissed Body-Klaus’s lips, “I love you, sunshine.”

“I love you too, pudding.” Klaus whispered, swallowing thickly, “I’ll be okay.”

Allison smiled tiredly, “Don’t worry, Klaus, we’ll make sure he’s here on time.”

Klaus smiled, “Thanks, sis.”

Dave and Allison stopped by Vanya’s bed, Allison moved over and put her hand on Vanya’s arm,

“Same to you, Vanya, I’ll be in tomorrow to check on you. Diego and Luther are busy being idiots and arguing, so don’t want those bad vibes here, right?” She smiled and sighed, “I don’t blame you for this, Vanya, and I’m willing to bet that Klaus wouldn’t either so whenever you’re ready to wake up, we’ll be here for you.”

Klaus nodded, “Absolutely.”

Dave looked at Allison, “Your family doesn’t get on very well, do you?”

“We’re just very different people trying to work together,” Allison sighed, “We’ve been apart for too long and it shows.”

Dave grimaced, “My sister and I fought a lot too, especially when I came out.”

Klaus’s ears perked up and he hurried to follow them down the hall, “Oh? You never mention you and your sister fighting!”

“Oh?” Allison asked, slipping her coat on as they walked.

“Yeah,” Dave sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, “My parents were fine with it as long as I kept it to myself because of how much danger they thought it would put me in, it was the 50’s after all and the rumors were bad enough. My sister, however, was quite a bit younger than me, almost ten years, so for her to try and understand things was a little hard for her. She was a teenager with only whispered conjecture to help her understand.”

“Did she eventually come around?” Allison asked, brow furrowed.

“Yeah, you talked positively about her when we talked.” Klaus pointed out as he walked on Dave’s other side.

“Oh yes,” Dave smiled, “It took me being in a serious relationship a year later for her to get it, I think it just took her seeing it in action to realize how silly her ideas were. Granted that relationship only lasted for a month but still.”

“Well I’m glad she became supportive and that your parents didn’t mind, I remember how much Dad would chastise Klaus for every little thing he did that was ‘deviant’.” Allison hit the down button for the elevator.

Dave blinked, looking at her, “He . . . never mentioned.”

Klaus bit his lip, “Well . . . I mean, not really something I like thinking about.”

His sister sighed and shook her head, “I’m not surprised, Klaus has always been the kind of person to avoid things that hurt him.”

They stepped into the elevator and hit the ‘L’ button, Allison grimaced,

“Klaus was always borrowing my clothes and Mom’s shoes and at first, everyone just thought he was being silly and trying to get attention but . . . as he got older it became obvious that Klaus wasn’t straight. Reasons why no one was surprised when he brought you home outside of the time travel aspect.”

“I take it your father didn’t react kindly to Klaus’s continued behavior?” Dave watching the floor numbers crawl by.

“Nope, he made sure Klaus’s hair and nails were kept short, made me and Vanya promise to never let him use our clothes, put a lock on Mom’s room and would do a sweep of Klaus’s room every so often to take anything away that he thought wasn’t . . . well, ‘straight’ enough.” Allison sighed heavily, “I feel like whether or not he saw dead people, Klaus would still be an addict."

Dave’s jaw muscles twitched as he clenched it, “No wonder he got so upset when Diego and I went through his room . . . “

Klaus bit his lip, “I was okay, for the most part, because I knew you weren’t taking stuff away that I really wanted. It’s okay,  you did the right thing.”

“That’s different, the intentions behind what you and Diego did was different.” Allison shook her head and they exited the elevator and went to the parking lot.

“Even so, I wish he’d say something,” Dave shook his head, “He keeps things so tightly bottled up.”

Allison stopped and looked at Dave, “We were conditioned to be that way, he can’t help it anymore. Part of it is fear of being pushed away and told to suck it up, Klaus learned very quickly to not tell our father when he was afraid or uncomfortable.”

Dave swallowed, looking around and grimacing, “That’s wrong on so many levels.”

“Don’t we know it.” Klaus murmured, looking at Allison.

“We’re a lot better now than we were a few days ago, believe me.” Allison unlocked her car and got in.

Dave sighed and followed, “I wish I knew how to help.”

“Just listen to him and wait for him to feel safe and talk to you.” Allison shrugged, “Klaus is big on feeling secure in his environment.”

“Exactly!” Klaus leaned forward from the backseat, “I’m working on it, I swear.”

Dave nodded, “Thanks for talking with me, I feel very much on the outside with all of the things going on.”

“No problem.” Allison pulled out of the lot and turned the car toward home.

* * *

Dave stumbled into Klaus’s room after taking a long shower, he was just in a towel around his waist, his hair dripping and his body hair sticking tight to him. Klaus smiled from the bed,

“Well, hello there, Mr. Snack.” He stretched out and smiled, “I was just thinking I’m getting a bit peckish.”

Dave closed the door and dried off all the way, dropping the towel on the floor and he slowly crawled onto the bed and laid down, Klaus blinked and sat up,

“Dave? Babe, you ok-”

Dave took a shuddering breath, turned his head into the pillow and screamed, Klaus was so startled he shot off the bed and hovered for a moment before standing next to the bed. Dave’s body curled in on itself and he sobbed into the pillow, hugging it tightly to his face.

“Oh! Oh, no, please, don’t do that-” Klaus bit his lip and kept trying to touch Dave but his hands went through him, “Dave, please don’t cry, it’s okay! C’mon, Dave . . . “

Dave didn’t stop and Klaus frantically rushed about trying to think of something, then his eyes fell on his record player, the album that was set in it wasn’t the most opportune thing ever but he figured maybe ABBA was better than nothing since he didn’t trust himself to move his records on their own yet. Klaus glanced over his shoulder then back at the player,

“Okay, okay, just gotta move the needle . . . and turn the thingy on . . . “ He took a deep breath and reached out.

His fingers brushed the needle and he was able to painstakingly nudge it into place then he focused as hard as he could, Klaus held his breath (admittedly he found out he didn’t need to breathe but old habits and all that) and almost collapsed when the switch clicked and the record started to spin. There was the slight static of the track starting then ‘Super Trooper’ began to play. Klaus turned around excitedly to Dave,

“I did a thing!”

Dave blinked and slowly sat up, snuffling and wiping at his nose and eyes while he started to scoot to the edge of the bed. His brow furrowed in confusion and he stood, slowly shuffling across the floor to stand in front of the player, watching the record spin. Klaus started to dance around the room,

“ _ BUT I WON’T FEEL BLUE! LIKE I ALWAYS DO! CAUSE SOMEWHERE IN THE CROWD IS YOU!  _ Can you feel that progress, Dave? Can you feel it?” He laughed then stopped and moved back to Dave, “It’s alright, Dave, it’s gonna be okay.”

Dave’s mouth was open and he took the needle off and turned off the switch, he looked around the room and very tentatively whispered, “ . . . Klaus?”

“Yeah!” Klaus bounced up and down, “It’s me!”

Dave licked his lips and slowly looked around again, “Are you, um, here?”

Klaus smiled, “Yes, Dave I’m here.”

Dave swallowed then started crying again, “Are you . . . dead?”

Klaus blinked, “Oh fuck! No! No, Dave I’m still here! I’m still alive! Shit!”

Dave sat on the bed again and covered his face, Klaus groaned and knelt in front of him,

“Dave! I’m not dead! I’m fine! Sort of!”

His hands snapped up and grabbed Dave’s wrists, surprising them both, Dave yelped and fell over on the bed. Klaus’s eyes widened and he blinked, 

“Whoa!”

Dave was staring at him wide-eyed, “Klaus?”

“Yeah, yeah it’s me.”

“How did you . . . how are you . . . here?” Dave asked softly.

“Wait, you can see me?” Klaus stood up slowly.

Dave nodded, “Wait, no, now you’re fading again!”

Klaus groaned, “Ah dammit.”

Dave scrambled to the edge of the bed, reaching out for Klaus, “Wait, what’s happening? Klaus!”

Klaus sighed, “Can you still hear me?”

“A little.” Dave swallowed.

“Okay, I’m  _ not  _ dead, Dave! I’m not dead. I’m just in a weird limbo.” Klaus said quickly.

“So what do we do?” Dave asked, “Klaus, you’re disappearing!” 

Klaus groaned, “Can you hear me?”

“Klaus? Klaus!” Dave looked panicked and he swiped a hand through Klaus.

“Aw, dammit.” Klaus sighed, “Okay, hang on, maybe I can’t hold solidness for too long right now.”

Dave hugged himself and swallowed, “Okay, okay, so you’re still alive and I’m not seeing your ghost . . . keep it together, Dave . . . “

Klaus sighed and sat up on the bed, “I’m sorry, I wish I could do more to . . . “

He pouted his lips and leaned back, he ran his fingers slowly over Dave’s shoulder making the soldier jump in surprise,

“Klaus?” He whispered then licked his lips, “What are you doing?”

Klaus shifted and kissed Dave’s jaw, “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here.”

Dave breathed out and moved back on the bed, “Alright, I trust you, just, uh, try and give me some kind of warning if you’re gonna put anything in my butt.”

Klaus chuckled and ran his fingertips over Dave’s sides, “I’ll do my best.”

Dave made a soft noise in his throat when Klaus’s hand stroked over his hip and down to cup his balls. Klaus smiled, putting his cheek on Dave’s shoulder,

“You can’t hear me or see me right now?”

Dave swallowed and put a hand on his prick, “Klaus . . . I’ve missed you even though it’s only been a few days.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Klaus whispered, stretching out next to Dave, “I’m gonna make it up to you.”

Dave bit his lip and closed his eyes, “This is . . . really strange . . . “

Klaus’s hands moved over Dave’s body while he shifted down to kiss the juncture of Dave’s thigh and groin, “It’s also taking every ounce of concentration I have so I gotta make this quick.”

Dave groaned when Klaus popped the solider’s dick in his mouth, “That’s a- oh- familiar- dang it- feeling.”

Klaus smirked around Dave’s shaft and put his hands on Dave’s thighs, he wished he could feel anything, taste anything . . . but everything was a strange, fuzzy mess even as he remembered what Dave felt like in his mouth, how his hairy thighs felt pressing on his face and hands, he also knew that he would be intensely aroused by this but . . . nothing.

Klaus blinked rapidly to keep from crying as he bobbed his head and touched anything and everything his fingers could find until Dave arched his back and came on himself. Which was also very weird and Klaus even reflexively swallowed only to stare in confusion at the lines of cum on Dave’s stomach.

Dave breathed out then covered his face with his hands, “I wish you were here . . . “

Klaus shifted up to curl next to Dave, hiccupping, “Me too, don’t worry, I’m figuring it out.”

Dave rolled onto his side, his fingers skating through the congealing spunk on him and then he wiped it on the sheets, “I miss you so much, I miss how it feels to sleep next to you . . . that was the thing I was most excited about when we first got here. Just the freedom to reach over and touch you and know you were right next to me at night . . . “

Klaus pushed as close as he could to Dave, he was drained and sluggish which again, very weird, “I’m so sorry . . . that was my favorite thing too.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay and I’m not really alone.” Dave blinked and tilted his head back, “You . . . you are still here, right?”

Klaus nodded then weakly brought a hand down on Dave’s shoulder, pushing until Dave moved ever so slightly under the pressure, “As much as I can be.”

“Oh good, I was afraid I was talking to myself for a moment.” Dave murmured, his eyes closing.

Klaus grimaced and sat up, using the last of his energy to tug the duvet up and over Dave as the soldier fell asleep, “Don’t worry, you’re as sane as I am.”


	3. In Which Trouble is Brewed to a Rolling Boil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Ben do some spooking, Klaus is an idiot, and there's Evil afoot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not too long but longer than usual wait, I injured some fingers at work, back on schedule though.

Klaus smiled as he watched Dave sleep, the poor guy had passed out and stayed passed out for most of the night and a good chunk of the morning, only waking every so often to panic and wait for Klaus to give him a sign or say something before drifting back off. 

He rolled onto  his side and curled up next to Dave and was about to slip into the weird darkness that he’d come to think of as ‘ghost naps’ when Ben ran through the closed door, immediately yelling and putting his hands up,

“I told you to warn me!”

Klaus rolled his eyes and sat up, “Oh grow up, Benjamin, I’m fully clothed and Dave is sleeping.”

“Sorry, he’s naked so I- wait, hang on, no, I had something I needed to tell you!” Ben put his hands down and stepped across the floor, “So, I went to the hospital to report back on what I found which wasn’t a whole lot, the room in the basement is just a soundproof chamber so not much there and Mom and Pogo are being pretty aloof.”

“Okay so why the rush? You found, you told, you-” Klaus hopped off the bed.

“It’s when I went to the hospital to talk that I noticed Vanya is gone!” Ben said, throwing his hands out.

“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone’? She was still konked out when I left last night!” Klaus’s eyes widened.

“She was just not in the bed!” Ben said, throwing his hands up.

“Shit! Okay, let’s go!”

They turned and were at the hospital, Klaus ran to Vanya’s bed and sure enough , it was empty. His body was still were it had been last night, a little less bruised, a little more color to his skin, but otherwise unmoved.

“Oh man, oh man, oh man,” Klaus mumbled, walking in a circle, “This is  _ not  _ good, Ben!”

“You’re telling me!” Ben grimaced, “What do we do?”

“Have you ever been to her apartment?” Klaus asked suddenly.

“No, have you?”

“No, I don’t know where it is . . . “ Klaus swallowed, “What if-”

The door opened, interrupting them and Five walked in, he stopped briefly to stare in confusion at the empty bed then his head snapped to the side when there was a quiet  _ thwoomp _ , Klaus and Ben looked at each other then back to Five as the old-teenager went to the wall and opened some tiles onto a little cupboard space. 

“What the fuck . . . ?” Klaus murmured as Five took out a brass cylinder and opened it.

Five read the piece of paper in it then dropped the paper and blipped away, Klaus and Ben ran to the paper and there was an address on it, Klaus swallowed,

“Something weird is going on here.” 

Ben nodded, “Follow him?”

“You know it, spooky-bro.” 

They held hands and memorized the address then turned and were outside of a large motel with a blinking sign, Klaus furrowed his brow,

“Did you get a room number on that note?”

“Uh, 42, I think.” Ben muttered.

“Right.” 

They ran along the doors until they came to ‘42’ and stepped through the door, Klaus yelped and backpedaled upons seeing two unfortunate and violent acquaintances before he remembered that no one could see or hear him. Ben cocked an eyebrow as he looked around then turned to Klaus,

“I got a bad-”

“So, everyone’s here!”

The brothers turned to see Five appearing in the room next to a woman with white hair and a black dress with matching gloves, her face stretched in one of those smiles that were not at all a smile while the two suits sat looking nervous.

“Indeed,” Five said, tilting his head back, “Is this you admitting defeat or was I called here for you to mete out my comeuppance?”

“Neither, neither, Five,” The woman smiled and elegantly took a seat on one of the beds, “Cha-Cha and Hazel had quite a time getting this far but the assignment has changed drastically due to some strange occurrences at their hands.”

“Oh?” Five cocked an eyebrow but otherwise his face didn’t give anything away.

“Indeed, unauthorized time travel,” She smiled again and tilted her head to the side, “If the reports on the briefcase are to be believed, the trip was taken a few weeks ago, which threw things very far off schedule and caused a great deal of problems and paperwork. I’ve been swamped trying to suss out all the details and get the legwork in to fix all this-”

“And your point?” Five cut in.

“The unauthorized trip was taken by one Klaus Hargreeves back to 1968 in the midst of the Vietnam War.” The woman said shortly, “Your wayward brother got his hands on the case  _ somehow _ .”

Klaus grimaced, “Whoopsies . . . “

Here the two suits looked at each other, but kept their mouths shut.

“So? I highly doubt that Klaus was able to do much of anything to-”

“Hey!” Klaus said, “I’m not that useless!”

“It’s not that Klaus did anything, it’s that he brought something back with him.” The woman held up a hand to cut Five off and leaned back, “Or someone.”

Five’s lip twitched and Klaus and Ben looked at each other, Klaus swallowed,

“Dave . . . “

“I fail to see-”

“Dave Gregory Thompson was supposed to die in 1968, whether Klaus was there or not, doesn’t matter, it’s the fact that apparently your brother brought Mr. Thompson back with him and the time continuum is completely out of sync thanks to him interfering with events that should have ended the world nearly a month ago.” The woman stood up, “It took us quite some time to figure out exactly what it was that kept the world turning but when all signs pointed to your brother’s beau, well, it all clicked.”

“What events has Dave interfered with, specifically?” Five asked, stepping closer.

“Normally that information would be above your pay-grade,” The woman said in that weirdly terse, polite tone of hers, “but, if you would be willing to work with us on correcting this little mistake, I can see my way to protecting your family from the inevitable destruction.”

“So the Apocalypse is still on then?” Five asked, sounding a little defeated.

“Again, Five, pay-grade,” the woman said calmly, “but perhaps we can work out some kind of arrangement if you put things right.”

“What's she getting at?” Ben muttered but Klaus could only stare in silent terror as he saw the wheels turning in Fives head.

Five slowly took a seat on the low table near the door, “ I'm listening.”

“Excellent,” the woman stood and flounced to her coat that was draped over the bed and took out a cigarette with a fancy holder, “All I require of you is to put a few things back where they belong, time will reverse to correct mistakes and we’ll be right back on schedule!”

“What are our options?” Five asked, slowly getting to his feet.

“Well, it’s very simple,” The woman blew out a thin curl of smoke and tapped the cigarette into an ashy tray, “You go back in time and do one of two things, either go back and ensure that Klaus never goes back in time  _ or  _ you go back and make sure Mr. Thompson stays in his own time.”

“He would die either way then?” Five asked.

“Yes.”

“No.” Klaus looked around, his eyes wide, “No! No, Five, you can’t do this!”

He ran over and knelt in front of Five, ignoring whatever it was they were negotiating and stared up into his brother’s face,

“Please, please, don’t take him from me!” 

Ben grabbed Klaus and tried to pull him back, “Dude they’re starting to look suspicious! We gotta go!”

“No! No, we have to stop them, we have to-”

One of the bedside lamps’ bulbs exploded causing all of them to jump and Klaus staggered to his feet just as Ben pulled him back and they were at the hospital again. Ben started to pace while Klaus ran to his body and tried desperately to jump back into his body,

“We have to somehow warn Dave and the others.” Ben said finally.

“Think I don’t know that?” Klaus snapped then groaned in frustration as he unsuccessfully tried to get back into his comatose body, “This is the fucking  _ worst _ !”

“We also need to find where the hell Vanya went! Klaus, focus!” Ben snapped, grabbing Klaus’s arm and pulling him away from the bed.

“Oh I’m sorry, Ben, is my panic over losing the only person I’ve ever tried to actively change for distracting you?” Klaus shouted, shoving his brother away, “Forgive me that I have something to live for and I want to cling onto that!”

“Klaus, calm down, I-”

“No, you know what, Ben? Fuck all of you! Fuck you! Fuck the family! Fuck Five! And fuck everything else! If I lose Dave, I’m gonna make this little detour in my life permanent, you understand? I’m done being the screw-up and the embarrassment! I’m done being ‘the gay one’ and ‘the addict’, I’m done trying so hard to get close to everyone only for them to keep their walls up and then shut me out when I need them! Diego, Allison, Luther, all of them! They pretend that they care and that they’re helping me but I know what’s really going on! They’re ashamed of me just like Dad-”

“That’s not true!” Ben shouted, shoving Klaus back, “That’s not true and you know it! Don’t you  _ dare  _ compare any of them to our father!”

“Oh why not?” Klaus shoved Ben.

“Because we’re  _ nothing  _ like him.”

They all turned and there was Diego, in the wrong place at the wrong time, staring at Klaus with an expression on his face that Klaus did not recognize nor ever remember seeing his brother make but he knew somewhere in his addled mind that it wasn’t a good expression and Klaus blinked. Diego cleared his throat and put his coat on, glancing at Vanya’s bed,

“You, uh, you wanna explain to me about that and why I’m seeing two of you?”

“Ghost stuff and I don’t know where she is. Diego, I-” Klaus turned to his brother.

Ben sighed, “No one can see me still? Inconceivable.”

“It’s fine, whatever, I’ll get over it,” Diego wouldn’t look at Klaus, “So Vanya is gone and I take it you have no idea where she went?”

“Five is-”

“I don’t give a fuck what Five is doing,” Diego said quickly, “How do we find Vanya?”

“I-I suppose I could try blipping to her?” Klaus said softly, his fingers twitching anxiously, “But Dave-”

“So blip to her or whatever the hell that is.” Diego cut in, “Do something useful since you’re not laid up all the way.”

“Diego-”

“Go!” Diego shouted, “You’re wasting time!”

Klaus grimaced and looked at Ben but his spooky-bro looked just as pissed at him so he sighed and nodded,

“Fine, I’ll go find her . . . for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll bet.” Diego muttered.

Klaus swallowed and sighed, closing his eyes and trying to focus as hard as he could on Vanya.

* * *

It took four tries, the first he was still at the hospital which was unhelpful, the second he was in an apartment that he supposed much be Vanya but she wasn’t there, the third he was at the concert hall but it was completely dark and no one was around, but on the fourth try he was at a cabin in the middle of bumblefuck knows where.

Klaus swallowed, moving into the cabin, he desperately needed to go back to Dave but he also was the only one who could find Vanya, and then there was the matter of needing his body and goddammit did he make a big ol mess of things . . . his priorities were jumbled and fighting for what he should be doing first and he was just getting a list together when he looked inside the cabin and his whole ghosty body felt like it’d had the rug pulled out from under it or missed a step or something.

Vanya was sitting on a couch looking in absolute terror and was crying into a pillow while that Leonard guy who Dave beat up was kneeling in front of her. Vanya shook her head emphatically and looked at Leonard,

“I don’t believe you!”

“It’s true, if I hadn’t gotten you out of there they were going to put you away.” Leonard said in a soft, soothing voice.

“But Klaus-”

“He’s dead, Vanya, he got crushed under the chandelier.” Leonard tried to take her hand.

“What?” Klaus said, looking around, “No, fuck you dude, I’m not-”

“My family-”

“I heard it with my own ears, your brother wanted to lock you away and no one was really trying to stop it. They blame you for Klaus’s death.” Leonard shook his head, “But it’s alright, they’ll never find you and we can work on your powers together.”

“I-”

“I believe in you, Vanya, more than they ever will.” Leonard said softly.

Vanya swallowed and looked around, her eyes streaming, “ . . . I need to think.”

“Vanya, I’m okay, I’m not-” Klaus stopped, he felt something strange happening, “Uh . . . “

He looked around, the sounds around him became muted, his eyes started to lose focus and when he lifted his hands to eye-level they were becoming see-through,

“Oh fu-”

* * *

Klaus opened his eyes and immediately the pain hit him like a Mack Truck, he looked around and oh, oh no . . .oh no . . .

He was back in his body, in the hospital, unable to move. Klaus grunted and tried to look around but his neck was still in the brace keeping him facing forward, and out of the corner of his eye he could see that he was alone in the room, Diego must have left for some reason.

_ Oh no . . .  _


	4. In Which Dreams are Helpful and Father is Decidedly Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus gets a little extra help that hurts from multiple sources.

_ Okay, okay, don’t panic. Do. Not. Panic. _

Klaus looked around the room he, and until very recently Vanya, occupied, he could barely move thanks to how mummied he was and the more he tried, the more he became very sure that he was in deep shit.

He took several slow breaths through his nose and squeezed his eyes shut to try and gather himself but, hm, nope! Klaus screamed with his mouth closed and the machines around him started beeping loudly. Within a few moments the room was crawling with nurses trying to calm Klaus down and at the same time inject something into Klaus’s IV, but he frantically tried to get their attention,

“No! No, wait, don’t give that to me! I need to be awake! I need to-”

“Mr. Hargreeves, you can’t tell me you aren’t in a lot of pain-” The nurse started.

“Please, no, I can handle- . . . oh fuck . . . “ Klaus’s eyes widened as his injuries suddenly came into sharp relief and he sucked in a breath.

Within a few seconds Klaus’s eyes glazed over, he knew it wouldn’t last given his tolerance, but regardless he could feel a heaviness washing over him.

“No, I gotta . . . I gotta stay . . . tell them stuff . . . “ He mumbled, suddenly very tired and ready for a nap.

* * *

Klaus’s eyes opened again, he blinked a few times to clear the crud out of them, then frowned, 

“Mom?”

“Klaus, we’re here to get you home.” Mom smiled and put her hand on his which was still wrapped up.

“Uh, should I leave right now?” Klaus furrowed his brow, he was still in the upper body cast and neck brace as well.

“We’re going to fix you up. Your father had better ways to deal with this sort of thing.” She gestured to his body then went to the curtain and beckoned, “He’s awake.”

Diego and Allison quietly moved to stand to the side of Klaus’s body, Diego leaned over,

“Did you find Vanya?”

“Y-Yeah, that Leonard guy has her but I don’t know where he’s got her.” Klaus said softly, “Diego, there’s something else, something worse. Dave is in danger, Five is gonna travel back and leave him to die! We have to stop him, we have to-”

“Wait, why would Five do that?” Allison asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Because a lady said it would start the Apocalypse or something, I don’t know!” Klaus hissed, trying to keep quiet but he was starting to panic again, “Diego, please, we need to stop them!”

Diego shook his head, “Klaus, you’ve had a bad head injury and just woke up, you’re delirious, Dave-”

“No! No, Diego, please you have to believe me! There was a tube in the wall and then Five went and met with a lady and those two goons that kidnapped me and-”

“Wait, the same people that killed Eudora?” Diego hurried to Klaus’s side.

“I . . . guess? But, we have to-” 

“Where are they, Klaus,” Diego grabbed Klaus’s shoulders and it took Allison pulling him back to stop him from shaking Klaus, “ _ Where are they _ ?”

“I don’t remember but, Dave-”

“If we’re going to move Klaus without being seen, we need to do it now.” Mom said, putting a hand on Diego’s shoulder.

“Mom, we have to-”

“Diego, we have to help your brother first.” she tilted her head forward, looking up at him.

Diego blinked, looking over his shoulder and pursing his lips,

“Fine. But as soon as he’s fixed up, he’s taking me to those two.”

“No, when I’m fixed up, I’m taking Dave, Vanya and Ben and getting the fuck out of Dodge.” Klaus grumbled as Diego and Allison moved him to a gurney, “What exactly are you planning on doing?”

“Your shoulders were both dislocated, a vertebrae in your neck was fractured and your left scapula was shattered plus you had a skull fracture and a possible concussion,” Mom said in that pleasant voice of hers, “But don’t worry, I’m more than certain we can fix that up in no time at all now that he’s awake.”

“Uh, wait, wait, you can just fix broken bones like nothing?” Klaus asked incredulously.

“It won’t be pleasant and given your tolerance for pain medication, we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to give you anything that will keep you comfortable, but it is possible.” Mom frowned, putting her hand on Klaus’s shoulder.

“Lovely . . . “ Klaus mumbled, closing his eyes.

* * *

Klaus grimaced as Mom took out a large syringe, “Oh wow, uh, that-”

_ THUD _

Pogo shook his head as he stepped around the spot where Diego was now lying on the floor, passed out, “We’ll need to inject different points on your body to make sure the serum is spread out to the bones that were affected. It will not feel good.”

“Right, okay, but Dave and Vanya-”

“One thing at a time, Master Klaus.” Pogo said.

“You don’t understand, they-”

The syringe sank into the meat of his thigh and Klaus’s eyes widened and well, he may or may not have caused a window or two to shatter, whether it was with screaming or with his newfound mind-stuff-power-thingy but it was really neither here or there as Klaus burst into sobs,

“AH! AH! FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!” 

It was only made worse by the fact that Klaus couldn’t  _ move _ and he whimpered, closing his eyes, Allison was biting her lip, her hands hovering at Klaus’s shoulders as if unsure about touching him or not when the door to the exam room burst open and Dave and Luther were standing there looking alarmed. Dave ran in, looking at Klaus,

“What are you doing to him?” He shouted, his eyes flitting around at them all.

“It’s alright, Master Dave, his bones are mending at an accelerated rate, that is all.” Pogo said loudly over Klaus.

Dave hurried over and held Klaus’s head in his hands, Klaus whimpered then yelled again while a loud crunching sound came from his back. His eyes were streaming and wide as Mom filled the syringe again,

“OH GOD NO!”

Mom grimaced apologetically and slipped the needle into part of his shoulder that was exposed, “It’s almost over, Klaus, just one more.”

But Klaus passed out from the pain before he could respond.

* * *

It was a dream, he knew it was a dream but still, if he was going to be passed out, this was a pretty nice place to hang out. Klaus looked around at the spotless little house and something inside him said this was  _ his  _ house, it was so cute and cozy with baby-blue walls, little plants in windowsills and white curtains with a floral design along the bottom gently fluttering in the breeze from the open window.

Klaus breathed in and he could smell flowers and a distant barbecue and maybe a scented candle somewhere, he moved to the front window and could see a little boy and girl playing with a dog in the yard. He smiled and stepped to the mirror next to the front door and he knew it was definitely a dream, his skin had healthy color to it, his eyes weren’t sunken with flawless eyeliner and a subtle dusting of green eye shadow, his hair was well-kept and perfectly tousled, goatee trimmed and he was wearing a belly-shirt over a long-sleeved fishnet shirt and a short tartan skirt with chunky heels. He looked  _ good _ , Klaus bit his lip as he stared at his dream-self, his dream-house, his dream-children, all the things he longed for and-

“Hey there, sunshine.”

Klaus turned and there was Dave wearing a trim looking suit and had on one of those hats you always see men in black-and-white pictures wearing that Klaus probably had a thing for. Dave smiled and came up behind Klaus, sliding his hands to Klaus’s hips and kissing his neck,

“Kids are outside for as long as you want them to be.”

“This is a dream.” Klaus breathed, leaning back into Dave.

“Yes, it’s  _ your  _ dream. We can do whatever you want.” Dave whispered, still kissing every inch he could get.

“Good.”

Klaus turned and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and pulled him toward the kitchen. This too was perfect, spotless with white tile counter tops, immaculate chrome appliances and it smelled vaguely like cookies. Klaus looked at the pictures in crayon pinned to the fridge with chunky alphabet magnets and he bit his lip,

“Think I want to be a Dad or something?” He asked softly as Dave pressed him against the counter, a hand sliding up the back of the skirt.

“Maybe one day we will.” Dave whispered, “After I make you an honest man.”

Klaus slowly turned around and put his hands flat on the counter, staring at his hand and he gasped softly, he was wearing a wedding ring, “This is so cruel . . . “

“How is it cruel, sunshine?” Dave asked, flipping his tie over his shoulder and undoing his belt.

“I don’t want to wake up.” Klaus bit his lip as his skirt was lifted up on his waist and Dave pushed in, “Oh, that didn’t take much.”

“Well, it is a dream.” Dave murmured, leaning over Klaus then he started to sing softly, “ _ You are my sunshine . . . my only sunshine . . .  _ “

Klaus breathed heavily, gripping the edge of the counter and he closed his eyes briefly then his brow furrowed in confusion, Dave was still singing but he was now sitting at the table,

“ _ You make me happy . . . when skies are gray . . .  _ “

Klaus blinked, the kitchen wasn’t the spotless dream kitchen of a 1950s housewife in a Sears and Roebuck anymore, it was dingy and dirty with something ominous bubbling away on the stove that Klaus was more than sure wasn’t food. And someone was still bending him over the counter, 

“D-Dave?”

Dave just kept staring at him but his clothes changed to his uniform, a bloody hole in his chest,

“ _ You’ll never know dear . . . how much I love you . . .  _ “

Klaus looked down at himself and his clothes had changed, he was wearing the ratty trench with the matted fur collar, his hands were dirty with bloody, frayed fingernails with chipped lacquer pressed to the filthy, cracked tiles.

“Dave . . . ” Klaus pleaded, looking over his shoulder and oh . . . 

It was a man that was vaguely familiar but Klaus knew this man, knew he’d bought some substance from him and who was rutting into Klaus, a sweaty, fat, middle-aged man in a dirty tanktop. Klaus looked back around for Dave then sobbed when he wasn’t there anymore at the table,

“ _ Please don’t take . . . my sunshine . . . away . . .   _ “

“No! No, Dave!” Klaus clawed at the tiles and tried to get up but a big hand slammed his head down on the tiles, “Dave, help!”

“It’s your dream, you figure it out.”

Klaus blinked and looked around, gritting his teeth angrily, “No, not you! Get out of my dream!”

Reginald Hargreeves sat at the table, hands folded on the pommel of his cane regarding Klaus with the same measured coldness that seemed to be permanent,

“So you do enjoying being sodomized by random drug dealers?” Father’s eyebrow cocked, “You’re doing this to yourself, Number Four.”

Klaus yelled and suddenly they were sitting across from each other in a lightless somewhere at a plain card-table with plain folding chairs,

“My name is  _ Klaus _ .” Klaus said softly, “I’m made to feel like an object by too many people in this stupid world to-”

“Now that you’re done indulging yourself with whatever fantasies you think you deserve, there’s far greater things we need to discuss.” Father said firmly.

Klaus glared at his fingernails, “Such as?”

“The end of the world.”

“I’m not giving up Dave.” Klaus bit out angrily, glaring at Father, “I’m  _ not  _ doing-”

“So you would rather condemn everything to obliteration than give up one person you might have fornicated with?” Father tilted his head back disapprovingly but then he always looked like that.

“I won’t give up the one person I _love_.” Klaus corrected, “But then you wouldn’t know anything about that would y-”

“You don’t know anything about me beyond the short 16 years you lived under my roof, Number Four, but then that’s neither here nor there and we do not have the time for this.” Father snapped, “If you are going to remain the selfish child you always have been then your family and everything else is going to die. I worked much too hard and too long to prevent such things!”

“Yeah, well, now you’re dead so all that hard work for nothing, huh?” Klaus sat back in his chair and glared at Father.

“Am I not talking to you now?” 

“Considering I wouldn’t willingly conjure you up in my fantasies, I suppose it is really you.”

“Indeed,” Father’s eyebrow twitched up a bit then he leaned forward, folding his hands on the table, “You have a choice to make, Number Four, a very important choice and where it up to me, you would be the last person on this Earth I would trust with it-”

“Gee, here I thought you hated me.”

“But I have no choice,” Father sighed heavily, “Your sister, Number Seven, is one of the most powerful amongst you and despite my best efforts to keep her under control, you and . . . that man have found a way to bypass all my hard work.”

Klaus glared across the table, “‘That man’ has a name, you old f-”

“I am not speaking about Mr. Thompson, Number Four, I am talking about Mr. Harold Jenkins.”

Klaus blinked, “Whomst?”

“You must stop him at all costs from unlocking your sister’s full potential and save the world and time itself. But this means that you must make a choice, either you stop Mr. Jenkins and retrieve Number Seven and place her back in her containment chamber or you remain with Mr. Thompson and try to stop the inevitable outcome of his death.”

Klaus stood up angrily, “How about this? Firstly, fuck you, you heartless piece of shit. Secondly, I’m gonna save both. And Thirdly, I will  _ never  _ put Vanya away in the dark and the quiet, I will never abandon her or any of my brothers and sisters because I fucking love them too damn much, I don’t care how much of an asshole they all are or how they don’t really tell me they love me or how we never even touch each other because I know they love me without all that. You have never  _ once  _ made me feel like I was more than shit you stepped in on the street and I _hate_ you with a burning passion.”

Father stared up at Klaus then tilted his head back, “You’re running out of time and unlike your enemies, you can’t go backward or forward through it.”

“I’ll figure it out.” Klaus hissed, looking around, “How the fuck do I get out of here?”

He looked back but Father was gone, Klaus groaned and started to wander around the endless darkness,

“Okay, come on, now would be a good time to wake up, me!”

Nothing.

“Uh, please wake up?”

Nope.

“LET ME OUT!” Klaus turned in a complete circle, throwing his hands out in frustration.

“ _ You are my sunshine . . .  _ “

Klaus blinked, looking wildly around, “Dave?”

“ _ My only sunshine _ . . . “

“Oh thank Buddha, Dave! Dave, I’m here!” Klaus started to run into the dark.

“ _ You make me happy . . .  _ “

“C’mon, where are you?” Klaus slowed, looking around.

“ _ When skies are gray . . .  _ “

“ . . . Dave?”

“ _ You’ll never know dear . . .  _ “

“ . . . please, Dave . . . “ Klaus slumped down to his knees and hugged himself.

“ _ How much I love you . . .  _ “

“I wanna wake up!” Klaus screamed.

“ _ Please don’t take . . . my sunshine . . . away . . .  _ “

* * *

Klaus’s eyes snapped open and he sat upright, screamed then flopped back down, “HOLY FUCK!”

Dave groaned, holding his nose tightly, “Ow! Jeez!”

Klaus blinked and looked at Dave then sat up again, “Whoa, whoa, Dave, sorry, I just woke up and- Shit! Shit! Hang on, where’s Allison and the others? I did a thing and saw shit and- Fuck! Apocalypse, right!”

He jumped off the gurney-thingy and ran for the door, not realizing he was naked until he was in the middle of the front room much to the group-disgust of his siblings,

“You guys! You guys, I-”

“Pants! Pants exist!” Diego shouted.

“You shouldn’t be up right now anyway!” Allison hurried over and draped her coat around Klaus’s shoulders.

“No time! No time!” Klaus shook his head and hurried over to the wet bar, “Wait, no time for that either! Look, you guys, I saw Dad and-”

“You conjured him?” Luther asked, getting to his feet.

“Shh shh, lemme talk!” Klaus waved a hand dismissively at Luther, “Dad said we have to find a guy named ‘Harold Jenkins’ in order to save Vanya and I- wait, where’s Five?”

“Dunno, haven’t seen him in a bit.” Diego shook his head, “Who is Harold Jenkins?”

“Haven’t the foggiest,” Klaus licked his lips, his mind was a blur as he tried to get his list of things sorted out, “Vanya is the catalyst to the Apocalypse I guess and we need to-”

“What?” Luther and Allison both moved closer to Klaus.

“I guess? Something really bad happens from her ‘unlocking her potential’ and we have to stop that happening.” Klaus shifted uncomfortably, “Dad thinks we should put her in the box but I-”

“I told you!” Luther said, turning to Diego, “I told you we should have-”

“Fuck you, Luther!” Diego shouted, “What the fuck is this loyalty you have to the old man? After what he did to you! Or what about what he did to Klaus and Vanya? How about that? I read the fucking journals too, I read what he did to Klaus when he said he was scared of his powers and what he did when dear old Dad became afraid of Vanya! How the fuck can you want to do what he says after all the shit he’s done?”

Luther opened his mouth but Klaus cut in, “We are  _ not  _ putting Vanya down there. What happened to me was a stupid accident, I thought I knew what I was doing and I was wrong.”

“So we’re looking for ‘Harold Jenkins’, I think I can track down a file on him,” Diego said, clearing his throat, “Any idea why he’s so important?”

“None, Dad wasn’t so forthcoming with the ‘whys’ as much as he was with the insults and direct instructions followed by a massive guilt trip.” Klaus shrugged rushing over to Dave when the soldier stepped into the room, still gingerly touching his nose, “And you, you need to stay in sight at all times until I figure some things out cuz otherwise- Nevermind, I don’t want to talk about that, just stay where I can see you.”

“Um, okay.” Dave looked around in utter confusion but no one was paying him any attention as Diego hurried off to get the file, Luther looked glumly into the distance and shuffled off and Allison was writing down some notes.

“Okay, so Vanya is still safe and alive?” She asked, looking at Klaus.

“Yeah, but she’s so scared, Allison, she’s terrified and thinks she killed me,” Klaus bit his lip, “We have to find her.”

“We will, don’t worry,” Allison moved over and hugged him gently, “So glad to see you on your feet again.”

“Same, being still doesn’t fit my lifestyle.” Klaus smiled, returned the hug then waved for Dave to follow him up the stairs, “C’mon, gumdrop, I need clothes and I have some things I saw in a dream I want to tell you.”


	5. In Which Truths are Realized and They Hurt Like A Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther comes to terms with things badly, Klaus tries to help and fails, and Diego gets in touching with his feelings . . . sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of fluffiness for you all

“It was definitely a dream, you would never paint the house baby blue.” Dave smiled as he watched Klaus pulling clothes out of the dresser.

“Yeah it was super cheesy and cliche and  _ oh my gawd _ could we have been any gayer? It was like something out of what a straight person thinks gay people are like on the daily.” Klaus chuckled, “I swear if I’d wandered around long enough I would find all sorts of things. I half expected the dog to be a goddamn Pomeranian.”

Dave chuckled, “Out of curiosity, what kind of dog was it?”

“Some kind of mastiff breed, big head, stocky, I dunno, I was more preoccupied by you and getting fucked on the kitchen counter.” Klaus looked up from pulling on a black and purple tie-dye shirt to wiggle his eyebrows.

Dave blushed and smoothed the duvet, “Why am I not surprised?”

“Well, it-”

There was a soft knock on the door and Luther leaned in, “Oh, uh, sorry if I’m interrupting something, I’ll go-”

“You’re not interrupting anything, you big lummox,” Klaus waved Luther into the room but his brother stayed in the doorway, “C’mon, the gay isn’t catching.”

“I’m not concerned about ‘catching’ your homosexuality, Klaus,” Luther frowned, “Can I talk to you?”

“You are in fact, doing a very good job of that right now.” Klaus tugged on a pair of jeans that may or may not be Allison’s, he honestly couldn’t tell sometimes since they liked a lot of the same styles.

“I mean privately, you know,  _ alone _ .” Luther shifted his weight and cleared his throat.

Klaus and Dave exchanged looks but Klaus shrugged and followed Luther out of his room,

“Okay, I don’t really get what’s so damn important when we have an Apocalypse to sto-”

Luther lead the way into Father’s study and stopped just in the doorway, blocking the way, 

“Did . . . DId he mention me? At all?”

Klaus furrowed his brow in confusion and he crossed his arms, “Uh, noooooo, why?”

“Well, I . . . nothing at all?”

Klaus rolled his eyes impatiently, “No, Luther, what do you  _ want  _ from me? The old man was as impassive and cryptic as always.” 

Klaus glanced over his shoulder, intent on cutting this little talk short and getting back to Dave but Luther turned around and Klaus blinked, dropping his arms at the look of absolute loss on Luther’s face and the big man looked close to tears,

“Uh, Luther, are you o-”

“I thought . . . I thought my research might be helpful, like  _ maybe  _ it would for some reason. I’m not even sure why I thought that but when I went looking for the notes . . . “

He stepped aside and Klaus could see all the envelopes scattered across the floor with their bright red seal-ties still in place.

“Oh . . . Luther . . . “

“He didn’t, uh, he didn’t even open them.” Luther whispered hoarsely, “He sent me all the way to the moon for nothing.”

Klaus blinked, this was huge . . . Luther was beginning to understand.

“I-I don’t get it,” Luther continued, “I did everything he wanted, I put anything I could possibly want aside for his ‘mission’, I bent over backward to  _ everything  _ that-that . . . that  _ bastard  _ wanted! I  _ adored  _ him! He was my father! He-He-” Luther slid down to his knees, tears rolling down his cheeks, “He . . . He never called me ‘Luther’ . . . even when I was the only one left . . . I thought I was special . . . I thought I was a good Number One . . . What . . . what more could I have done?”

Klaus blinked and put a hand on Luther’s shoulder, “Absolutely nothing. You were a good son and you are a good person, even when you’re a self-righteous prick.”

“But . . . “ Luther’s lip quivered.

Klaus sighed and tugged on Luther’s arm, “C’mon, ya big lug, let’s go have a drink and mellow on this. But just one, I’m a newly recovered alcoholic-drug-addict and you’ve never drank. So just one, okay?”

Luther burst into tears and leaned heavily on Klaus, completely engulfing his smaller brother as it seemed that these revelations fully hit him. Luther had never faced the kind of rejection and isolation that the others had until now, had probably tried to convince himself that the others were jealous or ungrateful. He’d always had their father’s eye and to suddenly have everything pulled out from under him was too much too soon and Klaus felt his heart ache. 

He’d had  _ years  _ to come to terms with how dysfunctional and abusive ol’ Reggie Hargreeves was, but Luther had been disillusioned by his extreme need for their father’s approval. And now he knew he’d never had it to begin with.

* * *

One drink wasn’t enough, apparently.

Luther was fully, totally and regrettably sloshed.

Klaus sighed as his massive brother stumbled and cried and carried on, feebly reaching for the bottle unsuccessfully as Klaus grunted under the weight.

“You . . . are . . . so . . . heavy!”

“Klaus? What the hell are you doing?”

“Ah, Diego, help!” Klaus grunted again as he almost fell over with Luther practically trying to crawl onto his back.

“What did you  _ do _ ?” Diego snapped, “We don’t have time for this!”

“Don’t you fucking blame me for this, Captain Doofus here got himself a depression over dear ol Dad sending him on a field trip to the moon for nothing! Diego, I really need help, I’m gonna drop hi-”

“Luther, get a hold of yourself!” Diego shoved Luther off of Klaus only to grimace when Luther promptly fell over backward and slammed into a couch, subsequently destroying it, “Oh . . . Maybe we should leave him there . . . “

“You can’t just leave a sad drunk alone,” Klaus rubbed his shoulder and grimaced, “I know we don’t have a lot of time for this but he’s in a really bad place, Diego.”

Diego looked between Klaus and Luther who was flopping about like an upended turtle, 

“You are so much easier to deal with in this kind of state . . . “

“Well, to be fair I’m also several feet shorter and a hundred pounds lighter.” Klaus muttered.

“You’re six feet tall, Klaus, you aren’t small, you’re just gangly.” Diego muttered, “Look, I got the file on Harold Jenkins and you aren’t going to belie-”

Klaus snatched the manilla envelope out of Diego’s hand and rifled through it, “Whoa, wait, this is-”

“Leonard, yeah, Vanya’s weird little boyfriend douche.” 

Klaus yelped and glared at Ben, “Where the fuck have you been?”

Diego looked around in confusion, “What’re you-?”

“Shush, it’s Ben.” Klaus waved his hand dismissively at Diego then turned to Ben.

“Keeping up with everyone else since you went bye-bye, I figured you would pop up again, I just didn’t know it would be in the flesh.” Ben grimaced, “Looks like you got your hands full.”

“Do me a favor, pop in on Allison and then keep looking for Five. I gotta keep track of Dave and now Luther needs me to look after him.”

“You know it’s really rude to have conversations around me.” Diego muttered.

“Okay, I’ll pop in and see you when I’ve made the rounds.” Ben sighed, “Glad to see you on your feet, Klaus.”

“Don’t worry, buddy, I’ll figure out how to make you nice and solid for hugging purposes.” Klaus smiled and passed the folder back to Diego as Ben blipped away then he turned to his two other brothers, “So, we know that Vanya is in a cabin owned by a Harold Jenkins, should be able to get you an approximate location?”

“Definitely, but after what happened to you I’m reluctant to approach a distraught Vanya without some heavy lifters.” Diego muttered as he scanned the papers again.

“You mean Luther.” Klaus tilted his head back.

“Yes, I mean Luther,” Diego looked up, lips pouted a bit as he thought, “So do me a favor and get him sober while I check out the address we do have, might be the cabin but even if it isn’t, recon and useful info and all that.”

“Right . . . “ Klaus looked back at Luther who was now curled on his side trying to pull his coat off, “Are you sure you can handle this alone?”

Diego cocked an eyebrow, “Sorry but what use would you be?”

“I’m not talking about me,” Klaus crossed his arms, “I’m talking about Dave, as much as I’m not okay with him being out of my line of sight, I do trust you and know that you could protect him and he does have military training.”

Diego shifted, licking his lips and looking off to the side, “Thought I was just like Dad?”

Klaus grimaced and rubbed his arm, “I . . . I didn’t mean that, at all, I’m so sorry I said those things. I love you all so much, I just-”

“I get it.” Diego held a hand up, “I know I’m not the touchy-feely kind but I want you to know that what you said . . . “ He still wouldn’t look at Klaus, “Hurt. It hurt a lot. I don’t want to talk about it any further, alright? Just leave it where it is.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want,” Klaus shifted, “I’ll get Luther sober and we’ll go rescue Vanya.”

“I guess I wouldn’t say no to Dave’s help.” Diego sighed.

Klaus nodded and went back to trying to drag Luther off the floor, “Uh, I might need some help getting him upstairs . . . “

Diego snorted, “We are not going to be able to get him up there, just sober him up down here.”

“Fine . . . “

* * *

Luther pressed his hands to his face and Klaus pushed a cup of coffee toward him, “Here ya go, big fella, nice cup of darkness to help with that headache you got going.”

“I’m never drinking again.” Luther mumbled, pulling his hood over his head and taking the cup.

“Damn right you aren’t, if I had known you’d be a floppy ball of misery, I would never have suggested drinking but then I’m not a very good judge of when to indulge in substances and when to abstain.” Klaus sat across from Luther with his own heavily-sugared-and-creamed coffee, “How you feeling, darling?”

Luther’s lip shook as he stared into the cup, “Like shit.”

“I’ll bet but hangover aside?”

“Like shit.”

“Ah,” Klaus sighed and took a sip of his coffee, “Starting to get how the rest of us feel, are you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me,” Klaus said, “It doesn’t do any good considering you were just as much under his control as we were, the only difference is that we broke out of it and you stayed in your little comfort zone. Of course, we were not equipped for human contact, so I question how wise it was to do so but then I wasn’t thinking about that before being sober.” 

“I don’t know what to do with this information, every time I think about it, I just want to sink into the Earth.” Luther grimaced as he drank some of the coffee, “I don’t think this is what coffee is supposed to taste like.”

‘That is  _ exactly  _ what coffee should taste like,” Klaus smiled, “Finish that cup then you can have one with the good stuff in it. Look, Luther, you’re gonna need to give yourself time to adjust to this new information so, if I were you, I would push it aside for now and when we all have a moment to relax without the Apocalypse breathing down our necks, we can all talk about this and help each other.”

Luther slowly looked at Klaus, “You’ve been dealing with this for years. . . and I had no idea . . . “

Klaus sighed, “Don’t beat yourself up over it, okay? We’ll talk it out later. Right now we need you nice and sober because we need your help,” He leaned forward, “We need you, Luther.”

Luther’s mouth twitched in the corner and he shifted the cup between his hands, “Really?”

“Yup, need our hard-hitting, heavy-lifting big brother-captain-person!” Klaus smiled and reached for the percolator, “And hey, it’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to cry and feel hurt, alright? You’re allowed to do those things.”

Luther blinked a few times and held his cup out for a refill, “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

* * *

The car ride was awkward.

Diego glanced at Dave and cleared his throat, “So . . . you and Klaus?”

Dave titled his head slightly, “You already did the Break-His-Hear-We-Break-Your-Legs speech to me.”

“No, no, I know, I just uh . . . “ Diego shrugged, “Never thought I’d see him like this.”

“Like what?” Dave’s eyebrow rose.

“Settling down with someone who has no tattoos, piercings and acts like they just walked out of Mayberry.” Diego adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

Dave snorted, “Yeah, I don’t blame you, he tends to gravitate toward unsavory characters.”

“I blame drugs.” Diego muttered.

“Well, I can’t say I disagree.” Dave looked out the window, “Had a few scares with him in Vietnam . . . I’m really glad he didn’t intentionally join the military, he isn’t suited for it.”

Diego nodded, “I can’t really see him doing anything with his life, to be honest, he was never given any time to be good at anything.”

“He likes to draw,” Dave leaned back in his seat, “He’s actually pretty good too . . . has a really nice singing voice . . . He’s really creative too . . . “

“If all this works out, might have to push him to go to college,” Diego muttered, “Which is something I never dreamed I’d say about Klaus.”

“How do you feel about that?” Dave cocked his head and regarded Diego with a neutral expression.

“Alright, don’t tell the brat but, I’m really proud of him,” Diego glanced at Dave briefly, “He has a chance at something better and for once, he took it. We’re all kind of shocked by how Klaus is the one getting his shit together, having a healthy relationship, and somehow he’s the one keeping us from falling apart again . . . “

Dave was quiet for a moment, “Why shouldn’t I tell him this? More importantly, why shouldn’t you?”

Diego looked at Dave and frowned, “Look, pal, you just got here so don’t expect us to all get the warm and fuzzies right away with you, alright? I’m telling you this because you asked, that’s all, Klaus doesn’t ask, so I don’t tell.”

“You think people need to ask to be told they’re loved?”

“I can pull over and kick your ass out of the car you know.”

“Alright, alright, but you should know something too.”

“Yeah? What?”

“Klaus loves you very much and he worries about you a lot.” Dave stared out the window.

Diego’s mouth quirked in some semblance of a smile, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, he also thinks you’re a hard-shelled dick who only expresses himself under penalty of death.”

Diego laughed, “Now  _ that’s  _ more like it, c’mon, let’s go snoop around my sister’s douchebag boyfriend’s property illegally.”

“I know Klaus wants me to bond with you but this seems a bit extreme.”

“Naw, just another day in the life of a Hargreeves!”


End file.
